It’s a story that many of us are all too familiar with: A man and a woman work the same job, but the man takes home a larger salary and sometimes even most of the credit.
Despite the numerous advances made in social equality in recent years, equal pay is one of the many rights for which here on Mum & Career we have detailed that women still have to fight.
Unfortunately, the reality is that the gender pay gap still continues to widen. Certain industries, particularly aviation, finance and legal, have compounded the problem more than others, with working mums some of the hardest hit due to the fact that many have to put their careers on hold to raise their kids. In light of this problem, it’s worth looking at these industries and what working mums can do to protect themselves.
The Gap Keeps Widening
Recently, CNBC reported that the gender pay gap has widened in half of UK companies in just the past year alone. Data made available by the UK government shows that men were paid an average of 11.8% more than their female counterparts, based on a list of companies with more than 250 employees.
Near Miss
Some industries have hit pay gap rates well above the national average. In the aviation industry, for instance, Ryanair had a whopping pay gap of 64%. While the carrier has explained this only reflects the lack of available female pilots (much less working mums), other carriers like Jet2 and Tui have posted much lower pay gap rates in recent years, with neither going above 50%. Additionally, German carrier Lufthansa reportedly had 7% female pilots, the highest rate among European carriers and second only behind United Airlines.
Financially Unsound
The financial industry is guilty as well, with Credit Suisse posting a pay gap of 29% in the UK. Additionally, American bank Citibank also poses a similar pay gap globally, prompting declarations that they should do everything they can to rectify the situation. A possible reason for this is the fact that high-level positions are mostly taken up by males, with the hours demanded from many of them also being unfriendly to working mothers with a family to take car of at home.
Legally Blind
Yet perhaps most disheartening of all is that women have trouble gaining proper recognition even in the legal profession. Prowess writes that the problem still persists in the UK’s legal sector despite an initial report that law firms in the country had a relatively low pay gap rate of 20%. This was later found to be inaccurate, as it turned out some firms excluded their highest-paid male partners from their data. This continues to be a problem in the legal profession in the US as well, with Special Counsel noting how female attorneys continue to earn less than their male counterparts, only making 89.7% of a male lawyer’s weekly salary. Although it appears close to 100%, it’s small consolation for women and working mums who need to make ends meet.
Possible Solutions
Of course, there are a number of organisations looking to help women and working mums do something about it. One of these is the Confederation of British Industry, with Warwick Business School describing how they have presented possible solutions by calling for longer maternity pay, additional free childcare and most importantly, shared parental leave. This, they say, will lessen the number of women having to make a choice between their family and career. Additionally, Labour has also campaigned for the right for flexible working hours, which they say would help close the gender pay gap. The reasoning behind this is that flexible hours would enable mums to work and take care of their children at the same time, without an employer having to sacrifice productivity.
Though history has shown us that change is possible, the cases above show us that the problem is deeply rooted in far too many sectors. If women and working mums hope to have a fairer chance in the working world, they must root for serious reforms.
Clearly, the fight for equal pay is far from over.
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